repeat recordings and non-recordings

I turned on my PVR (DCX-3510) this morning to find two things: it is recording two instances of the CFL pre-game show, under different names, and it is not scheduled to record the new episode of The Mentalist tonight, despite there being a Series recording for this show.

CFL pre-game show:

Before going to bed last night, I set recordings for the CFL games to be played today. While doing so (using the mini guide that pops out a tiny scrollable list of what's on a single channel) I noticed that 2013 Grey Cup Playoffs: Pregame did not have the record icon beside it, it just said NEW. I thought I had set a series recording for the pregame shows, but maybe because it has a different name, it didn't recognize it. So I set the recording manually, not bothering to check if there was already a Series recording, or if it was scheduled to record. (The options box offered the option to Record Series, as opposed to Change Series Options.)

Now it's recording 2013 Grey Cup Playoffs: Pregame as well as CFL Playoffs: Pregame (which is the Series recording I had set), which is the same show on the same channel. So it knew to record it, but did not put up the icon on the Guide to inform me that it was going to record. So that's odd and should not be.

The Mentalist:

A couple of weeks ago the episode title was Fire And Brimstone, and was a new episode. However, when I watched the recording, it turned out to be a rerun. I checked the Guide and saw that the next airing of The Mentalist was also titled Fire And Brimstone and was new, but it was not scheduled to record. Of course not - according to the PVR, it has already recorded that episode. The settings won't allow it to record it again. (This happened to me previously with my old DCT3410, so I knew what was going on.) So I set the recording manually for last week's episode. In fact, I set it twice (once on CTV and once on CBS) just to be sure! I ended up with two recordings of the same - correct - episode. Which is as it should be.

But now it still does not want to record The Mentalist, despite tonight's episode being NEW and having a different title than last week's. So I'm not sure what's going on there, but that needs to be fixed.

Nothing new here. I'm still getting duplicate recordings and missed recordings all the time too. The sound still cuts out from time to time and shows still aren't always being recorded to their full length.

With the latest update, I didn't get my hopes up and it's good that I didn't. It seems it's business as usual with the HD Guide. Were there even any changes made? Certainly nothing that's reflected on my DXC 3510.

I have seen minor differences since the last update. So far it hasn't recorded the same exact show at the same time twice. I've never had issues with the sound cutting out or recordings being cut off - aside from when the station doesn't wrap it up on time, which is why we need to be able to add time to recordings.

Oh don't get me started on all the things that are wrong with this thing. I'm just saying, these particular things I posted are new problems that should be addressed.

I'm going through now testing in the office here what I can to try and help identify or clear things up for you.

From my first go through, it appears that the mini-guide doesn't show the red dot on the base menu itself. You have to right arrow to see the upcoming programs and it will show the red dot there. The red dot does show up in the two other guide views on the current program itself.

Edit: I see now that you mention the pop-out menu was where you looked for the red dot. Can you try checking a future recording you have set to see if there is a red dot on the mini guide pop-out? They are showing up properly on the one here.

You mention that the two programs (2013 Grey Cup Playoffs: Pregame,CFL Playoffs: Pregame) are on the same channel/same show, but I'm curious why it showed two different guide entries for that then? Were the two programs at different times or did it actually change the guide listing overnight? If they were at different times, the title variance would likely result in two different recordings (since the box sees that as two different programs).

Per the issue you have with The Mentalist not recording tonight, have you tried recreating that recording since the update? I'd recommend removing the series recording and then setting it up again if you haven't done so yet.

I have a Series recording set for CFL Playoffs: Pregame but it was listed as 2013 Grey Cup Playoffs: Pregame in the miniguide last night and today. I assume because it was a different title, it did not show that it would record it. But then it did record it anyway.

I am talking about the showing that was on at 9:00 this morning. It recorded it twice, under both names, but did so using only one tuner (meaning I could watch something else while it was recording two instances of this show).

I do not think you will be able to re-create this because you won't be able to set a Series recording for something that has already passed. But maybe you have special software that can do this....

Another instance of this sort of thing happening was on Thursday. I set a new Series recording for the new program Ground Floor on Comedy Network. The little box appeared in the top right corner saying it was setting the series recording. Then it disappeared. I waited about 10 or 20 seconds, but the little red dot did not appear beside the program name, it just said NEW. So then I set the recording manually and the triple-dot appeared. Then it recorded it twice - at the same time on the same channel - once as Season 1 and once as Season 0.

With regard to The Mentalist, I will keep that in mind and reset the Series recording next week if it happens again.

I have the same problem with The Mentailist. While investigating I noticed that we actually had two series records; one for 7pm on the eastern feed and one for 10pm on the western. Neither were marked for recording and neither showed up in the recording schedule. (Note: the likely reason that we had two series recordings is due to the fact that CBS is always late on Sundays due to football.)

I deleted both series recordings and tried to setup another (on the western feed). Still it was not listed on the schedule, so I deleted the series again and set it up as a single episode recording. Finally success!

Of course after all of that I notice that I have duplicate recordings schedule for The Walking Dead at 7pm tonight. Looking ahead I now see that there is another duplicate recording for The Good Wife on Nov 24.

Unfortunately the long awaited update is proving to be a disappointment.

can-al, have you done a hard-reset (unplugging the PVR, waiting 3 minutes and then plugging it back in again)since the big update? Like we haven't reset the machine enough times already.

Anyway, I was trying to record the Monk series and only the odd episodes were being recorded. I took a look at the Other Showtimes and there were no episodes scheduled for recording. I've done a number of soft-resets (holding down the power button for 10 seconds) since the latest update but confess that I hadn't actually done a hard-reset since. I just did a hard-reset a short while ago and now when I recreated the series recording for All Episodes again, they all were selected.

I'd like to think that some things finally got sorted out but I have been disappointed so far. We'll see what happens now, after doing the hard-reset.

Well, things are actually worse than they were. I had two recordings of The Walking Dead tonight, however after having watched one of them and after deleting it, I cannot delete the second instance. I can watch it, but I can't delete it.

I haven't done the hard reset yet, but will try to before going to bed.

interesting.... after the update, I also have a recording I can't delete, it came about from a duplicate recording of a series.

And as I described in this thread, the undeletable show can also be made to disappear then reappear in the recording list, but it refuses to be deleted no matter how many tries. same after a 30sec power-off cycle reset. There's gotta be some bug here with the way show deletions are handled (aside from the duplicate recording issue). ..

I deleted and re-set the recording for The Mentalist, but it did not want to record. Set a manual recording and it recorded fine.

New this week:

I've had a Series recording set for The Ultimate Fighter for many months and it has always recorded just fine. Today, the schedule shows The Ultimate Fighter as well as The Ultimate Fighter - Team Rousey vs. Team Tate - the full name of this season. So it's recording both, at the same time on the same channel. (7PM on Sportsnet 360)

I double-checked and I do not have two Series recordings set.

At the same time (7PM) I have a Series recording set for American Horror Story: Asylum and it has recorded every episode of the new season, which is actually called American Horror Story: Coven. But tonight, it is not scheduled to record it. So I set a recording and now it is set to record, with the Series icon (multiple red dots).

The whole point of the Series recording is so that I can set it and forget it. But I find I have to check the Schedule every morning just to make sure everything I have set is actually going to be recorded!